Thread: (CA) 42% of state's voters say state headed downward

Article:Going negative: 42% of state's voters say state headed :/c/a/2007/11/01/BAAUT4RFJ.DTL
Article:Going negative: 42% of state's voters say state headed :/c/a/2007/11/01/BAAUT4RFJ.DTL
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Going negative: 42% of state's voters say state headed downward
Tom Chorneau, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Friday, November 2, 2007

(11-02) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- California voters are becoming increasingly pessimistic, with immigration issues topping their worries, according to a new Field Poll released Friday.

In a survey in the spring, half of voters interviewed statewide said that California was among the best places in the world to live, with 52 percent saying the Golden State was also moving in the right direction.

But now, burdened by a sputtering economy and doubts about the ability of elected officials to deal with mounting problems, voters' outlook is split - 42 percent of them said the state is headed in the right direction, while 42 percent gave a negative view and 16 percent were undecided.

And immigration and border protection questions have jumped back into the forefront of voter issues.

Two years ago, the last time the poll asked an open-ended question about voter concerns, just 6 percent of those interviewed identified immigration as their top concern.

In the new poll, 21 percent of voters named immigration and border control as their top concern - well ahead of public schools (13 percent) and the economy (9 percent).

"There's a lot of reasons, but when we see concerns about the economy, we usually see a spike on immigration, too," said Jaime Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University Los Angeles. "It's a pocketbook issue - but it's an issue that has just not gone away."

The poll, conducted during the 10-day period ending Oct. 21, was drawn from random telephone interviews with 579 registered voters. It had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said he believes many voters had expected Congress and President Bush to work out a comprehensive immigration bill by now and the lack of a deal has disappointed them.

"Voters were led to believe that there would be some kind of immigration reform coming out of Washington," DiCamillo said. "But it never took hold, there was too much opposition and it's led to a great deal of frustration on this issue."

A Field Poll from July 2006 found that even during better economic times, 58 percent of Californians believed the problem of illegal immigration was a serious one; with 71 percent saying the number of federal agents patrolling the border should be increased.

The new poll did not include any follow-up questions about immigration, although the issue was mentioned more frequently among voters in Los Angeles County - 30 percent - than voters in the Bay Area (21 percent) and in Southern California outside of Los Angeles (19 percent.)

Bill Hing, a law professor who specializes in immigration issues from UC Davis, said there has been a great of media coverage of the border issues and illegal immigration over the past two years as a result of efforts in Washington to overhaul the laws and the many protest marches put on by pro-immigrant groups.

"I really think there's a lot of Americans who don't think immigration is that big a deal," he said. "But when you had these big demonstrations with people waving the Mexican flag - the truth is many Americans don't like seeing pro-immigration protests."

Hing and Regalado also noted that several popular talk-radio stations - mostly in Southern California - and CNN commentator Lou Dobbs have made immigration a central theme of their broadcasts.

E-mail Tom Chorneau at tchorneau@sfchronicle.com.

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This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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I think it's more that we weren't aware that our government was spending so much of our taxes on people who shouldn't even be here, while citizens and legal residents can barely get by.

I wasn't aware that we had stopped enforcing our laws against illegal aliens, until I saw the videos of them marching, demanding rights and sedition by elected politicians and college professors AGAINST citizens.

I also wasn't aware that the 2 million amnestied in '86 HAD grown to over 12 million today. I was against amnesty in '86 too. I am even more against it now. It failed and did encourage more illegal immigration.

How many other citizens were not aware of how bad it had gotten? I thank the organizers of the May day marches for informing us.

We are awake and we are aware.

I agree miguelina. I live in a little town in Iowa and wasn't aware we had this kind of problem till about a year ago. I remember watching a show about illegals crossing the border, the aid they were getting and the few people who were working to stop them and thinking how horrible it would be to have to deal with that. I also mistakenly thought they wouldn't come here because our winters were too cold... Anyway a few months later the news reported Mexicans marching in our streets and singing (I think) the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish! I couldn't believe it and was thrilled others were as pissed as I was.

I've wrote a few emails to our Senators and am proud to say Grassley's done a great job so far with illegals... wish I didn't want to pull my hair out with Harkin though!!!

Here's a big welcome to ALIPAC for Pandy! I think I'm allowed to do that.

Thanks Sam-I-am ~ This is a great site and I'm glad I found it!